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An attack against Katie Pavlich over anecdotal reporting on Hurricane Helene found a writer for The Atlantic buried beneath an avalanche of criticism from conservative media.

Peppering in caveats and wordplay loom large in “fake news” circles where the lack of “widespread evidence” was used to dismiss a story outright. Along those lines, after Townhall Editor Katie Pavlich reported on the experience of a friend on the ground in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina, The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta spread wide his own mouth to make room for his foot.

“Ah yes. Sourced to one unspecified person who knows many unspecified persons living in unspecified locations. Rock solid. Definitely meets the standard for publishing such sweeping and empirically contested assertions. (Fear not: she’s got ‘journalist’ in her bio.),” said the former National Review writer.

The post was in reaction to Pavlich writing, “A friend from North Carolina with many friends in the disaster zones describes things this way: ‘Pure abandonment’…She says a week in people have ‘zero support’ from the government, no urgency and that private individuals trying to deliver supplies are being turned away.”

Among the criticisms that included a call for internal auditing of conservative media to prevent advancing the careers of donkeys in elephants’ clothing, Alberta’s own record on responding to a similar situation during President Donald Trump’s administration prompted Townhall contributor John Hasson to ask, “Hey Tim…This you?”

Included in the post were screenshots from the staff writer’s social media account in 2017 where Alberta had done the same style of reporting as Pavlich concerning Hurricane Harvey.”

“Buddy in Houston texts me: ‘Hard to tell from the inside but is this catastrophe fully recognized by the media? It’s Katrina x10,’” read the post from the journeyman who’d made his way from the Wall Street Journal to National Review and then Politico before joining The Atlantic.

He went on to include a message, “Greater Houston is the size of New Jersey with more people than Louisiana. The devastation is widespread and not isolated to any socioeconomic or ethnic group. It’s everyone. But the community and character of Houstonians has been incredible. Thousands out in boats doing rescues and such. Amazing stuff.”

Meanwhile, Pavlich’s coverage included photos from scenes in the area struck by Helene as she further shared, “Another friend in North Carolina today: ‘In Black Mountain today rescuing Horses. Didn’t see many government personnel other than some cops. Just normal people helping other people,” and, “A sign in Black Mountain, North Carolina thanking @elonmusk for Starlink in the aftermath of Helene’s destruction.”

As industry allies bombarded Alberta with slams that labeled him friendless and “childish and petty also,” Pavlich herself responded with gratitude as the derision stood to bolster the message from the ground that corporate media was dismissive of the plight of many victims, “Thank you for further proving their point, Tim.”

Kevin Haggerty
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